Education: The Natural Bridge spoke with several African American men to get their response to the question: How can fathers or significant male role models impact the academicachievement of students? One of the first to offer an opinion was Dr. Walter Dozier, former Special Assistant to the Chief Administrative Officer / Education Liaison for Prince George's County Government. ETNB: How can fathers or significant male role models impact the academic achievement of students? Dr. Dozier: This is an interesting question. The absence of masculine guidance in any culture has devastating effects on children’s self esteem and learning capacity. For example, girls do better at some sports when fathers encourage their participation. That is because sports are deemed a male domain. Fathers and surrogate fathers must set standards of behavior and expectations for boys (and girls). A local (Maryland) author states in her work that many men have something called “extended adolescence” because they never learned that at a certain age, adult responsibilities must be taken on. We still have men in the 40s and 50s acting like they are in the 20s.

Prior to the industrial revolution, men worked primarily at home where they tutored and honed the masculine skills of the sons. Once men left home to work in factories, there was a subtle but dynamic shift in the way boys were raised. When men tell boys that is okay to be smart, boys have a means to mentally and emotional combat the negative messages about being smart and being a man. I heard Dr. Franklin from Morehouse University say “if the village elders do not stand up and set the agenda, the village idiots will.” In many cultures, boys still go through manhood rituals, which announce to the society that a boy is ready to pass into manhood because he has been properly schooled in manhood responsibilities and expectations. We have lost our manhood rituals other than sports. And given the recent examples of Vick, Burris, O.J., Barkley, Stallworth, athletes themselves need male mentoring not to mention should not be automatically given role model status.

I have gone in to dozens of homes with the police department and found that the absence of fathers is decimating our community on multiply levels – economic, criminal, social, and emotional. I am interested in promoting boarding schools for children who have poor social and academic structure in their home environments. At the same time, society must help repair the generational socioeconomic injuries to Black men, while Black men take advantage of ever-expanding opportunities in our society.